Mega Mat | MVRDV

Thailand produces around 2 million tonnes of plastic waste a year; the issue has become a hot topic nationwide as industries and the government have introduced policies and frameworks to reduce the consumption of plastic and increase the percentage of waste that is recycled. To build on this national momentum, with their contribution to Bangkok Design Week MVRDV wanted to celebrate the versatility of recycled plastic as a material for everyday products.

The Mega Mat takes recycled plastic as the material for a ubiquitous household item, the “Sua”, or mat, on which Thai families have been sitting for generations. A total of 532 modular pieces, woven with a traditional Thai textile pattern, come together to make a supersized Sua for the whole city. With each module measuring 1.8 by 0.9 metres, after Bangkok Design Week the Mega Mat will be dismantled and the individual mats will go on to live a third life – some will be donated to local temples, others will become yoga mats, and others will be upcycled into products such as bags.

Architect: MVRDV Founding Partner in charge: Winy Maas Partner: Wenchian Shi Design Team: Sanne van der Burgh, Sredej Bunnag, Americo Iannazzone, Zhijia Xiong, Jiani You, Dimitrios Kogkalidis, Sen Yang, Miruna Dunu, Marcela Tamez Cabello Copyright: MVRDV Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries 

Collaborators 

Partners: Creative Economic Agency, PTT Global Chemicals, Embassy of the Netherlands, Urban Ally

Contractor: D-63

Recycled mats: Rukchat

Lighting Designer: FOS Lighting Design Studio

Exhibition collaboration: MORE

Photography: Depth of Field Co.,Ltd.